The issues with narcissists

Narcissists can cause severe problems in your life. The consequences of their behavior can affect us severely before we even become aware of it.

Did you know? Narcissistic personality disorder makes up between 0.5 – 1% of the entire world population, which means that one person in a group of 100 people could easily be a narcissist.

Is there the right answer on how to tell a narcissist goodbye?

Yes, there is!

If you experience hard times with a narcissist in your life, we prepared you a detailed guide on how to tell a narcissist goodbye for good.

Download our Narcissist Abuse Recovery Program

Unfortunately, I know how it’s hard to leave a narcissist since I write from my personal perspective. However, I tried to make this process easier and more comfortable for you. This is a valuable tool to help you take one step at a time and regain control.

You don’t have to be a part of their vicious cycle forever. With our printable worksheets, you can regain your self-confidence and implement some useful steps to leave them for good.

The initial signs that you’re under a narcissist’s influence

If you don’t take care of yourself, they leave you drained and exhausted. What’s worse, you are questioning yourself and your mental sanity due to their supreme manipulative skills. Leaving a narcissistic person may even seem impossible and you may see no way out.

Sometimes you can’t avoid them

The dreadful truth is they can be everywhere. You may encounter a narcissist on a daily basis. A narcissist can be your loved one, for example, a friend, a member of your family, or romantic love. Your parents can be narcissists too. For example, a term narcissist mother is being googled more than 20,000 times each month worldwide!

If you tolerate it for too long…

As a result of their game, your self-confidence starts to decline substantially, and that way they gain power over you. Before you even manage to understand what’s been going on, they have you under your control. There lies their abusive power.

Eventually, you stop believing in a salvation

You’ll end up wondering how to tell a narcissist goodbye and the answer might seem elusive. However, there’s always a solution to all the suffering.

Can a narcissist change?

A short and straightforward answer – NO. A narcissist doesn’t have the ability to change his behavior in most of the cases. It’s harsh but true. They are toxic people without any desire and ability to change. The same applies to covert narcissists.

Narcissists will never tell you the truth. They live with the fear of abandonment and can’t deal with facing their own shame. Therefore, they will twist the truth, downplay their behavior, blame others and say whatever it takes to remain the victim. They are master manipulators and conartists that don’t believe you are smart enough to figure out the depth of their disloyalty. Their needs will always be more important than telling you any truth that isn’t in their favor.. ― Shannon L. Alder

How to recognize a narcissistic person

Narcissism is a personality disorder with some easily noticeable traits. However, some of them are not so easy to observe quickly. But once you get familiar with these traits, you’ll be able to recognize their psychological profile and behavioral patterns. Often they are being referred to as narcissistic sociopaths, since their total lack in empathy.

Here we go:

1. They are highly manipulative – they will use you to complete their goals by playing with your emotions. They do not restrain from lying2. They are very sensitive to their physical appearance and how people see them

3. Oversensitivity to criticism is their major characteristic, and their rage can escalate quickly

4. The others are to blame for all; a narcissistic is never to blame for anything

5. They are vindictive. If you do not play by their rules, they will have a desire to destroy you

6. Taking control is their thing. They like to have other people and things under their control

7. They seek validation, because deep inside they are deeply insecure

8. Fear is their dominant emotion, because they are scared that they might be abandoned, ashamed, or exposed who they are

9. Feel no empathy -They cannot assess the consequences of their actions on others

10. They’re superficial -They like to surround themselves with attractive and successful people because it boosts their self-confidence

How To Recognize A Narcissistic Person

Covert Narcissist Signs

Apart from the regular narcissistic personality traits, there are also covert narcissist which are harder to spot. They may seem timid and quiet, but yet there are some discerning characteristics of covert narcissists:

passive-aggressive behavior

very sensitive

noticeable lack of empathy

easy-to-spot superiority beliefs

can be extremely nice and polite

cold and calculated

The highly sensitive person and the narcissist

Why is this combination so frequent, and seemingly so natural? The highly sensitive person and the narcissists often match with the devastating consequences for the empaths themselves.

The highly sensitive persons (HSP) and the narcissists are at the opposite side of the empathy spectrum. The empaths have an abundance of it, while the narcissists have none of it.

Naturally, narcissists want to take advantage of the HSP and use their excessive empathy to get what they want. On the other side, the idealistic and empathetic nature of HSPs genuinely believes that a narcissist can change positively. Moreover, HSPs offer their help and support in abundance.

Preconditions to get over a narcissist

If the things have gone too far, it’s the time to kick them out of your life. You will need a lot of strength and determination because they will not make it easier for you.

It won’t be easy though

They will use all the available means of manipulation to persuade you to stick with them as long as it works fine for them. They won’t let you go that easily.

What we know:

This process requires a lot of energy and strength. The best way to say goodbye to a narcissist is to stick to your decision no matter what and use all of your power and energy to survive the ordeals caused by them in the meanwhile.

Narcissistic abuse symptoms

What is the right time to end the relationship with them? As soon as you feel any of the narcissistic abuse symptoms listed here:

Losing your self-confidence

You feel helpless and under his/her control

You are questioning yourself and your sanity because of him/her and their tricks

Anxiety is an integral part of your relationship

You’re influenced by his/her behavior

An abundance of negative energy you get from him/her is your reality

Feel manipulated/isolated/with damaged self-respect

He/She continually tries to persuade you that he/she is your only reliable person, that you don’t deserve or can’t find a better one

But how to tell a narcissist goodbye for real?

You are wondering how to tell a narcissist goodbye & how to get out of their vicious cycle. Certain questions may be hovering over your head: Is there a goodbye letter you can write to them? How to make them believe it’s over? How to detach from a narcissist once for all? How to beat narcissists in their game?

The process is going to be far from easy since the narcissistic personality disorder is a very severe condition, according to psychology. This will be an unpleasant and grueling struggle to regain control over your life. Leaving a narcissist alone is a tiresome process, sometimes referred to as “cutting the cord with a narcissist.”

Be prepared:

The narcissist will test your limits and tolerance all along the way. That type of person will do any hoax, trick, and invent tall stories to make you believe he/she changed.

Once you become aware of the magnitude of narcissistic manipulation, bear that in your mind always. Narcissistic people cannot change. They can only pretend very well.

Best way to say goodbye to a narcissist – phases

We have divided this process into phases you need to go through to be able to get rid of the narcissist for good. Each of the phases is equally important and has its challenges you need to overcome.

Bear in mind:

Therefore, the best way to say goodbye to a narcissist is to be aware of the situation you’re in and don’t let them ruin your decision.

To recap again, here are the phases we have developed and included in our narcissistic abuse worksheets:

Awakening phase

Mollifying the consequences of a narcissistic relationship

Time for action

Persistence against the attacks

Emotional healing

Getting back to normal life

Awakening phase

It’s hard to break the illusion that you live in when you’re with a narcissist due to their tremendous deceptive abilities. Accepting the reality is painful and harsh, but it is of crucial importance for your emotional healing.

No one can fool you forever

A narcissistic person can fool you for a specified period of time, but not your whole life as he/she would want.

The awakening process happens sooner or later. Usually, awakening comes when the consequences of dealing with a narcissist become severe and devastating.

Get over a narcissist -the changes start with this stage

How did we get here?

Your quality of life may drastically decline, suspicion rises, and your self-respect and mental health deteriorate. This is the vital stage of this process. You may know by now that to get over a narcissist is a hard and painful process, but you need to keep going.

However:

Once you become aware of the harsh reality, you know it’s the time to make some decisions and take actions.

Mollifying the consequences of this relationship and building up your self-respect again

Look:

Taking the appropriate actions against a narcissist is not easy at all. A strong and decisive action requires self-confidence and self-respect. But you’re likely to be weak and exhausted from the constant battles with a narcissist.

What’s even worse:

If a narcissist is in your environment, building up your self-respect will be a daunting task. However, you have to persevere.

Let’s see some positive things:

This phase is mostly about introspection, assessing your values, and regaining your self-confidence.

A narcissist will find a way to make this harder for you

Beware:

They can feel even the tiny changes in your behavior, and they are ready to start a fight if they notice the things are out of their control.

A narcissist will use all the available resources to make this harder for you, but your happiness and mental health are at stake. His/her behavior will only speed up the third phase.

Time for action

To get over a narcissist requires some action. This is the core of this process. All actions come down to the same things: lowering the impact of a narcissist in your life and distancing yourself.

Set firm borders

However, you can not distance yourself totally if a narcissist is your family member, but you can set him/her firm borders that are not allowed to cross. Also, you need to state that person that he/she has no control over you anymore.

A narcissist will cry, beg, and promise drastic changes in his/her behavior

However, a narcissist will not let you go that easily. He/she will cry, beg, promise significant behavioral changes, or start acting differently just to impress you. Please don’t be fooled.

Don’t be fooled though…

Psychology has proved that a narcissist cannot change that drastically and efficiently, so that is another way of their manipulation.

No use of explaining to them what’s going on and why you have to leave them, they will not understand. The best thing is just to leave.

Persistence against all attacks

But we’re not done yet. A narcissist will be persistent, but you need to be even more persistent and decisive. A narcissist will eventually conclude that he/she has lost you.

Be prepared:

In this phase, he/she will try to humiliate and downgrade you as much as he/she can. Spreading gossips can also be a part of their strategy. But don’t fall for that. These actions are their last attempts to deal with you.

Just put on ignore…

The best way to say goodbye to a narcissist is to ignore all their attacks in this phase. It’s unpleasant, horrible and rude – we know, but this is just their tactic to intimidate you.

In this phase, their contempt will be apparent to see.

Emotional healing time

It’s time to heal your wounds, find your inner peace, relax, and treat your experience as a valuable life lesson. Try to learn as much as you can from this bad experience and move on.

Give yourself the answers to these questions:

What have I learned? What are the characteristics of the narcissistic persons you were close to? What can you expect from that type of persons? How to recognize them quickly? How to walk away painlessly?

Why me?

Also, think about yourself and the role you had in this type of relationship. Perhaps you are a sensitive person, an empath, and they were acting like victims.

Or maybe you were insecure and convinced that you couldn’t do better?

Try to understand the reasons that attracted you to a narcissist, because it can help you avoid that pattern of relations in the future.

Get back to your normal life

Finally, this is the phase to continue with your life, focus on yourself, and make new plans.

We have finally got here…

But always be aware of the lesson the narcissist gave you, you’ll never know when you need it. Also, narcissistic persons have similar behavioral patterns, so that you can use this experience to avoid other narcissists in the future.

Best way to say goodbye to a narcissist – Wrapping Up

How to detach from a narcissist for good?

Hopefully, you found plenty of useful information here regarding how to tell a narcissist goodbye.

To get over a narcissist is far from easy. It is a long, painful, but necessary process. Getting rid of a narcissistic person might be the bravest and hardest thing to do in your life, but it worth it!

How to get your Narcissistic Recovery worksheets?

Our narcissistic abuse recovery worksheets are just for you if you’ve been struggling to get rid of the narcissists in your life. You don’t know where to start, but you’re ready to put your effort to become free again.